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ADC 74

Attachment

APPROVED DLMS CHANGE (ADC) 74

Narrative Message Reject for Invalid Quantity in Materiel Receipt 

Acknowledgement (MRA) Transactions (DI Code DRA/DRB)

1. ORIGINATOR:

a. Service/Agency: Defense Logistics Management Standards Office (DLMSO).

b. Originator: Mary Jane Johnson, MILSTRAP System Administrator, 703-767-0677, DSN 427-

0677, Email: MaryJane_Johnson@hq.dla.mil. 

2. FUNCTIONAL AREA: Supply

3. REQUESTED CHANGE

a. Title: Narrative Message Reject for Invalid Quantity in Materiel Receipt Acknowledgement 

(MRA) Transactions (DI Code DRA/DRB). 

b. Description of Change: DAASC will reject MILSTRAP Document Identifier Code 

DRA/DRB, MRA transactions, submitted with an invalid quantity entry back to the submitter with a 

narrative message stating: “The quantity in RP 25-29 is invalid.” Invalid quantity fields are blank or 

contain non-numerics (i.e., alphas or special characters).

c. Procedures: Revise DoD 4000.25-2-M, MILSTRAP, Chapter 6, paragraph C6.8.1 as follows 

(change is identified by bold italics, additionally, changes from PDC 84 to expand the reason for rejection 

from blank quantity field to include alpha and special character entries are double underlined):

“C6.8 CORRECTING OR CANCELLING MATERIEL RECEIPT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

C6.8.1 MRA Errors.

C6.8.1.1 Quantity Error (Invalid Quantity Field (quantity field is blank or contains 

alphas or special characters): 

• DAASC will reject MRA transactions (DI Codes DRA/DRB) received with an 

invalid quantity field (rp 25-29) to the reporting activity with a narrative reject 

stating: Correct and Resubmit. The quantity in RP 25-29 is invalid. 

 

• Reporting activities which acknowledged receipt using an invalid quantity field 

are to correct and resubmit the MRA upon receipt of the narrative message 

reject.

C.6.8.1.2 Other Errors. Activities which acknowledge a materiel receipt in error, other 

than an invalid quantity field error, will not correct the MRA. However to assure validation of any SDR 

for the shipment, the reporting activity must identify the erroneous MRA information in the SDR remarks. 

MRAs with an invalid quantity field error will be processed as addressed in paragraph C6.8.1.1.”
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ADC 74

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4. REASON FOR CHANGE: 

a. MRA (DI Code DRA/DRB) transactions are being submitted to DAASC with invalid quantity 

fields. During implementation of DLA’s Business System Modernization (BSM) these MRA transactions 

could not be processed as DLMS Supplement (DS) 527R MRA transactions due to an American National 

Standards Institute Accredited Standards Committee (ANSI ASC) X12 syntax edit. ANSI ASC X12 syntax 

requires a valid quantity entry in the 527R, Receipt, Inquiry, Response and MRA, implementation 

convention. Since the quantity is a required entry in the DLSS MILSTRAP DI Code DRA/DRB, DAASC 

will reject transactions received with an invalid quantity using a narrative message indicating the quantity 

was invalid and the MRA should be corrected and resubmitted. The Supply Process Review Committee 

(SPRC) was advised of the inability to convert MRAs with a blank quantity field to DLMS by the enclosed 

August 1, 2002 email.

b. MRA transactions submitted with invalid quantity fields are of limited value and undermine the 

intent of the DoD MRA process.

c. At SPRC meeting 02-3, September 10-12, 2002, the SPRC discussed this change and approved 

narrative message rejects for MRA transactions with invalid quantity fields (the field is blank or contains 

alphas or special characters). MILSTRAP does not authorize reversal of MRA transactions, so entry of 

special characters as reversal indicators is not allowed. The generation of MRA transaction with an 

invalid quantity field suggests a system problem which the Service MILSTRAP/SPRC representatives 

should be investigating/correcting. The SPRC discussed the use of the MILSTRAP DI Code DZG, Reject

transactions in lieu of narrative message rejects. Since MILSTRAP procedures are primarily wholesale, the 

DZG reject was not programmed for use at Service retail activities, with the exception of Air Force which 

did have the capability. In light of the inability to change retail legacy retail systems to process DI Code 

DZG, the SPRC agreed to the narrative message reject for this purpose. The MILSTRAP Administrator 

noted that narrative message rejects are presently used at reta il by MILSTRIP. Further, correction of the 

source of the invalid quantity field entries will negate the use of narrative message rejects.

5. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES:

a. Advantages: Improves the MRA process by providing visibility of MRAs with invalid 

quantities. Such visibility may help identify a possible MRA implementation problem and facilitate 

corrective action. 

b. Disadvantages. May requires offline processing of the narrative reject to correct and resubmit 

DRA/DRB transactions with invalid/blank quantities.

6. IMPACT:

a. DAASC changes necessary to generate the narrative reject for DRA/DRB transaction with 

invalid quantities has been completed. As an emergency fix, the narrative message reject process 

was been initiated in August 2002. 

b. Impacts Component MRA reporting activities which will receive the narrative rejects for 

corrective action.

c. Impacts Supply Process Review Committee/MILSTRAP Focal Point representatives responsible 

for monitoring their Component MRA process and initia ting corrective actions, by providing 

visibility of MRAs with invalid quantities.
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ADC 74

Enclosure

From: Johnson, Maryjane 

Sent: Thursday, August 01, 2002 12:21 PM

Subject: 527R MRA Implementation ISSUE 

 

SUPPLY PRC,

This email is to advise that DAASC will begin to provide narrative message rejects 

for DI Code DRA/DRB, Materiel Receipt Acknowledgement (MRA), transactions which are 

submitted with blank quantity in record positions 25-29. This action is necessary 

as DAASC and DLA’s Business Modernization System (BSM) have identified submission 

of DRA/DRB transactions with a blank quantity despite the fact that the quantity 

field is mandatory in both MILSTRAP and DLMS. The DRA transactions with no 

quantity which are converted to DLMS Supplement 527R MRA reject due to ANSI ASC X12 

syntax failure. BSM is live and to accommodate the immediate need to reject these 

transactions which fail to pass the ANSI ASC X12 edit for a quantity, DAASC will 

reject the DRA/DRB transactions using a narrative message. This procedure is not 

currently provided for in the MILSTRAP/DLMS MRA procedures and I will create a PDC 

to document this process, however in the interim as an emergency fix, the narrative 

reject messages will commence. 

Please note that we had discussed using MILSTRAP DI Code DZG Reject transactions, 

but we believe the DZG is primarily a wholesale process and we did not think retail 

activities were programmed to process DZG rejects. Please advise if this 

assumption is in error.

 

The narrative message rejects will go back to the activity that generated the 

transaction, unless the Component Supply PRC representatives provide other guidance 

since the generating activity is not currently expecting this reject. DAASC will 

capture and summarize by Component the DRA/DRB rejects for discussion at SPRC 

meeting 02-3 (September 10-13). We do not know the scope of the problem at this 

point. It could be minor, or it may involve system implementation problems. 

Capturing the reject information should help each Component determine the scope of 

the problem and facilitate corrective action.

 

An example of a narrative message reject is attached.

 

Mary Jane Johnson

Defense Logistics Management Standards Office (DLMSO) (J-673)

(703) 767-0677 DSN 427-0677 FAX: (703) 767-0160

Email: MaryJane_Johnson@hq.dla.mil

Website: http://www.dla.mil/j-6/dlmso 

8/1/02 Email Attachment (Narrative Reject Example):

PCCUZYUW RUSAZZE9425 2130033 MTMS-UUUU--RUSACMH. 

ATTN: DOCUMENTS RETURNED AS RECEIVED. CORRECT AND RESUBMIT. 

DAASC POC: DSN 986-3564 OR 937-656-3564 

FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS ARE RETURNED FOR REASONS INDICATED 

REF RUQAMCM4578 2122311 The Quantity in RP 25-29 is Invalid

DRBSMS95940003031218EA 8V219491344A697 YSEE01 S9GEK5028F 

DRBSMS 5940003031218EA 8V219491344A698 YA01D3 S9GEE5031F 

PCCUZYUW RUSAZZE9425 2130033 0014-UUUU NNNN